July 15 Column: Gardener Profile – Julie McElroy

Gardener Profile, Julie McElroy

During the summer months, I enjoy profiling local gardeners because I believe we can all learn from each other. For the first gardener profile, I interviewed Master Gardener Julie McElroy. Here is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: McElroy encourages making plan, but not being married to it. (or you can read my column lower in this post)

You can also find this week’s “Everyone Can Grow a Garden” video at the bottom of this post.

Some of you might know her from watching KHQ-TV’s “Garden Report,” which airs on Saturdays during the garden season. She is really knowledgeable and has a fun, easygoing nature that works well with reporter Matt Rogers.

Julie heads up the committee to coordinate the other Master Gardeners who appear on the “Garden Report” and she is the lead for the KHQ Connect Center phone bank, in which Master Gardeners answer all manner of garden questions.

Julie and her husband, Bill, live on 11 acres in southwest Spokane County. It was a real pleasure to explore their beautiful garden and visit with their exuberant Lab, Rose (you’ll get a kick out of her in the photo that I took for the newspaper article — Rose didn’t want to sit still! But hey, she’s still a puppy so that’s perfectly OK.

Here are some additional photos from my visit. Thanks so much, Julie, for inviting me to see your wonderful garden!

Gardener Profile, Julie McElroy

gardener profile, Julie McElroy

In the photo above, you can see the stream that heads down the slope to the pond seen in the photo directly above it. I would LOVE to have a steam going to my pond!   

Finally, here is this week’s video, which is about July garden tasks:

Julie McElroy garden column:

By Susan Mulvihill

If you’re a fan of the Saturday morning “Garden Report” on KHQ-TV, you know who I wrote about. Master Gardener Julie McElroy is a frequent guest of reporter Matt Rogers. During the segments, she dispenses information on all aspects of gardening.

Have you ever wondered what her own garden is like? I recently received an invitation to tour it and loved her planting style.

The history of the garden of Julie McElroy

Julie McElroy and her husband, Bill, live on 11 acres in southwest Spokane County. After their house was built, she sought some guidance on how to landscape their property.

“It’s so hard to start with a blank slate,” she admitted. “I contacted Lisa Hill, a landscape design maintenance consultant, and asked her to develop a plan for us.”

Working from that plan, McElroy focused on locating the trees and shrubs first.

“Every night and every weekend, I was driving all over Washington and Idaho visiting nurseries,” she said. “I really enjoyed looking for the specific cultivars Lisa had recommended.”

McElroy planted everything using the spacing guidelines from the plan, and then branched out from there. Different areas of her garden get differing amounts of light, which influences her plant choices.

The shady beds near their front door are filled with an eye-catching mix of hostas, hellebores, astilbe, cranesbill, boxwoods, a tricolor beech and a statuesque Japanese maple.

“I pay careful attention to what each plant needs,” she said. “If it doesn’t do well, I’ll move it. Some plants get moved several times.”

It’s hard to choose my favorite part of their garden but the stream and pond immediately drew my attention. Both look very natural, and the stream — with its small pools of water cascading over rocks — adds a soothing sound to the peaceful surroundings.

The elevated patio takes center stage and affords satisfying views of most of the landscape. It is surrounded with a blend of perennials, shrubs and ornamental grasses, with the occasional blueberry plant added in for snacking purposes.

There is also a large raised bed garden — surrounded by a tall deer fence — where tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, squash, beans, onions and other vegetables are growing. McElroy has found the raised beds require less maintenance.

While she has a good eye for color and composition, her realistic, no-nonsense approach to gardening is refreshing.

“My biggest challenges are controlling the grass seeds that blow in and the invasive plants in my flower beds,” she admitted. “You either have to have a gaggle of gardeners working on everything all the time or you have to just get over it.”

She also feels gardeners should go easier on themselves when something doesn’t go according to plan.

“If you like a perennial and you nurture it, and you think everything is fine but it dies, don’t beat yourself up,” she said. “You buy cut flowers and they die, right? Well, if you like the perennial, buy it again and pretend it’s an annual. You have to be OK with plants not being perfect.”

Aside from a few challenges, McElroy is content with how the garden has progressed over the years.

“I really love the scent of the fragrant plants I’m growing because it just puts you in a zone,” she said. “It’s so open out here, with the big sky, and it’s quiet. I love the sound of the water, too. It’s so nice to have a place to walk around with your cup of coffee.”